Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/198

174 HISTORY OF the "three legged wolf? and wlien we answered in the affirmative, says he, " I will hold a day of rejoicing, for I have but few sheep left from last winter, as he then killed nine, and eight of them were my best ewes, and I suppose he came here for more mutton. Tell me," continued he, ^^what I can do for you, and it shall be done. We asked him if he would take us in his sleigh towards home, or until we could find some one of our neighbors who would take us the balance of the way. We were then eighty miles from the village of Deposit, in a direct line, and he without hesitation agreed to do so. The number of persons assembled at Walton, out of curiosity, to see the result of the chase, was about one hundred, as every farmer appeared to be deeply interested in the destruction of this wolf ; and making a calculation, we found the number of persons assembled there alone, had sheep destroyed by him to the amount of one thousand dollars. When, therefore, they saw our success, it appeared as though they could not do too much for us; they escorted us home with fifteen sleighs, a distance of thirty miles, and our fame resounded through the whole country. There were but few Indians remaining along the Delaware as late as 1784, having principally emigrated to the hunting- grounds of the Susquehanna, or still farther to the west. There was an aged scion of the Tuscarora tribe, however, who remained for a number of years in the vicinity of Deposit, by the name of ^^Old Abram." His hut was on the bank of the river, between the village and the present residence of Benj. Whitaker, near by a large cold spring, which raftsmen to this day call Old Abram's Spring." Among those who remained on the hunting-grounds of the Delaware, were Canope, whose tragical end I am about to relate, and Huycon, or Ben Shanks. The following account of the transaction, is taken from the Bepublican Watchman, of Sullivan county.